This invention relates generally to trip planning and more specifically to a customized trip planner which will allow a traveler to plan his trip, based on his interests and desires, at a glance. Transparencies pinpointing particular interests in a country, state or region are over laid on a base map of the country, state or region. By viewing the map and transparencies in conjunction, a traveler can determine where in the country, state or region his interests are located. By using an over laying of transparencies, the travel information is not in a fixed medium. Consequently, the interests that can be incorporated are limitless. A traveler can continually add to his basic map with both general and obscure interests.
There is currently nothing in the travel market aimed at enabling a traveler to plan out a personalized trip. The closest product is a travel book. However, a traveler cannot easily personalize a trip by using a travel book. Mass market travel books are generally arranged by location, not subject. A traveler who wants to plan a trip around a particular interest or interests has difficulty. He has to comb the index to find information on his interest(s), which may or may not even be mentioned. For example, if a traveler wants to plan a trip to England and is interested in seeing (1) churches and (2) sites frequented by Thomas Hardy, he first has to use a travel book index and then use a map to pinpoint their locations. Not only is this process tedious, but it is not likely that sites frequented by Thomas Hardy would even be mentioned.
Because most mass market travel books contain neither in-depth subject information, nor obscure topics, a traveler has to buy special interest books to get information on specific subjects. However, the specialized travel books tend to describe only one subject, i.e. "pubs in England". Thus a traveler would have to buy several special interest books to accomodate more than one interest he has when planning a trip.
Additionally, because travel books are in a fixed medium, they cannot be expanded to cover new or more specific travel topics. A traveler just has to buy more books.
Travel books currently on the market also provide few maps. A traveler has to buy an extra map and pinpoint locations described in his travel book on his extra map. This process makes planning a trip difficult. Although road atlases provide maps, there is no information for a traveler. Even the tourist information maps that are specifically designed for travelers point out only the major tourist attractions.